L.A. Location Filming Rises

A sharp increase in feature film production helped boost location filming in Los Angeles during the third quarter.

Location production days increased 9.5 percent in the quarter to 11,792, according to FilmL.A., a downtown Los Angeles non-profit organization that handles production permitting in the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County and other local jurisdictions.

Feature film shooting was up 20 percent for the quarter to 1,959 permitted production days. Films shot in Los Angeles during the quarter included “Kitchen Sink,” about a group of teens fighting an alien invasion and “Jersey Boys,” about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Local location TV production did not fare as well. The category dropped 3.6 percent to 4,091permitted production days in the quarter amid steep declines in local reality and sitcom production. TV shows that filmed in the region included TNT’s “Rizzoli and Isles” and MTV’s “Teen Wolf.”

The California Film and Television Tax Credit helped boost the totals – films that qualified for the tax credit amounted to 5.5 percent of permitted production days for feature films during the quarter.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said he will continue to advocate for local production.

“I’ve made the industry a priority for my administration because it generates 500,000 jobs,” Garcetti said in a statement. “This isn’t about the stars we see on the screen but about carpenters, caterers, and electricians and the stores they shop in.”